Cellulose coated stick electrodes are commonly used in pipe welding; however, they generally have a water content in the general range of 1-3 percent of the total electrode. Consequently, there is some tendency to have a certain amount of porosity in the final pass of the welding operation. Furthermore, cellular electrodes with lower stackabilty require additional passes to fill the gap between the sections forming the pipe. Stackability is the capacity of an electrode to “stack metal” into a weld joint. Depositing metal into a pipe joint with an electrode having good stackability will fill the joint in fewer passes than using an electrode with a lesser stackability. For a given electrode size under standard welding conditions, stackability is measured as the run out length, or bead length, per unit time. A short run out length is better than a long run out length because all the metal from the electrode is deposited in the same sized joint in a shorter distance. With acceptable stackability, the welder controls the weld pool, rather than the weld pool controlling the welder. Fast freezing slag and metal increases stackability. Stackability is related to the deposition rate of the metal that is actually transferred into the weld joint. The electrode to which the present invention is directed is specially designed for traveling slower and depositing heavier beads so that a welder can fill the joint between the pipe sections with fewer passes. However, there is still a desire to improve the stackability. More importantly, with a cellulose coated electrode there is a need to decrease the porosity of the upper bead as it is deposited during the welding operation by increasing the moisture content of the coating.